YOLO Las Glorias to Celestino via Culiacan Jan 2023

 Las Glorias to Celestino via Culiacan

I just loved the variety and colors in the clam shells along the beaches here. I wonder if the different color stripes are like growth rings in trees??

One Sunday morning walk collected all these shells along one beach.  I put them into a sun pattern like I remember seeing on the TV show Sunday Morning.

Same shells arranged a different way.

I kept a few and arranged the rest into this sand structure.  Some kid came along the next day and took them all, looking at me guiltily as he did it.

New Years Day was a zoo out here.  Jason is just watching the action and enjoying one of the last of our beers as the locals swarm around us.

Another fiery sunset and then most of the locals leave and go home and it quiets down for us to sleep.

This guy couldn`t leave without lots of help.  We saw three cars get stuck in the same place here.  Just pop the top on that beer, chug it, toss the bottle or can onto the ground and get in and drive!

This train of six gas trailers was a new record for us.  It wiggled all over the road.

The only photo of the crooked cop who tried to shake us down in Culiacan.  It was the day before the narco drug leader was arrested so we were really glad to be out ouf Culiacan.

In El Canchal, we watched this guy dump crate after crate of freshly harvested oysters onto a bench to shuck them.  If you like oysters, this is the place!

A horse drawn cart along the road, with a woman driving.  We didn`t see much of this.

A lady we met at the oyster restaurant recommened we go to Celestino Beach.  We took her advice and parked not far beyond these big letters.

Purple urchin and the deep orange on the remnants of some big shell make a marked contrast.

A Chevy truck got stuck in the soft sand at the bottom of this gully entrance to the beach at Celestino.  A tractor and a chain were called to get him out before the tide came in.

The designs remind me of a black and white skirt.

We were told to stay put for a day or so in Celestino when the narco drug lord was arrested in nearby Culiacan.  Violence and disruption were expected and the road was blockaded in both directions so we couldn`t go anywhere anyway.  The family that owned one of the restaurants here in Celestino invited us to park in their restaurant and spend the day in the shade to stay out of the way in case narcos showed up.  This cutie is 1-year-old Matia and he smiled all the time.

Nobody spoke English so Google Translate was our only means of communication.  We watched the mother make fresh tortillas on the outdoor over to her right.  They came out perfect and delicious each time.

Sotero is the father and he and his son/nephew Ulysses took us on a tour of their fruit trees that give them all their shade.

Jason and Ania, the tortilla making mother.

They had lots of papaya and gave us a huge one to take with us.

Bananas and passion fruit were also plentiful.

The helper put one of our stickers on the fender of his motorcycle.  Isn`t that where the license plate should go??

Our huge gifted papaya.  It was yummy for three days.

Christmas to New Year in Mexico 2022

 We had a beach to ourselves near this little town.  We stopped to watch the locals on the pier.  This ibis strutted past and seems to by waving to us.

This local was casting his net out and catching fish. It takes practice and a good technique to throw thes weighted nets out to form the perfect circle his did.

A squadron of sea birds stand in perfect rows behind a shrub on a windy day.

YOLO on the beach with the palapas we had all to oursleves.

If we aren`t on a beach, we may be in the middle of the desert like here, surrounded by creosote and cactus.

A pretty bloom on a big barrel cactus near us.

I was trying to show the layer of mud that had been blown onto  this ocatillo stems.  Like frozen rain, the branches and stems of some plants around here had been coated with a layer of mud.  I don`t know if it was flooded by the hurricane and then dried on, or was dust blown onto a wet stem that stuck and created the mud crust.  Unusual, though.

The rocks along the road on the way into La Paz. Very different.

More of the holey rock formations along the La Paz road and shore.

Our view from our spot at Pichilingue.  This is the port town about 20 kms from La Paz.  Camping is free here and there are folks who have been here for weeks, and maybe months.  There is a huge contingent of French Canadians who come spend the winters here for free.

Cats looking for a meal in the garbage near the port where the local fishing boats pull ashore.

Pretty kitties.

I really liked the striking markings on this one.  I think is is a tiger cat.

The line of trucks outside the port waiting to get in to take their load to the ferry that crosses to the mainland from here.

Sunset at Pichilingue.  These vehicles are directly on the beach.

Stunning sunsets here!  I love this one.  There were a few cruisers out in the bay here.

These two 40 foot buses pulled onto the beach as well.  They were going to try to get on the cargo ferry to cross to Mazatlan soon.

A "Unimog" overlanding truck.  Most of these come from Europe and are meant to go anywhere.

Jason enjoying an adult beverage in front of Bob`s trailer, watching  a sunset.  He had been here for three weeks before we showed up but was gone when we returned ten days later.

The high tide strands the vehicles on the beach for several hours.  We didn`t want to be in that situation and were happy parking across the road from them.

The road into French contingent was flooded as well, leaving them stranded for the day.  Not such a big deal as folks are here for the duration.

A beautiful teal color of the ocean along the shore just north of San Perdito.  We watched rays jumping and whales breaching and spouting along this shore every day.

Looking back at YOLO from the shore, with our back doors open.

The beach here was virtually a cliff of sand until high tide washed over the tops.  The sound of the waves pounding the sand sometimes sounded like thunder rolling in a storm.

Another Mexican cowboy riding on the beach.

Jason found some shade in the shadow of YOLO at the beach.

We stopped to admire this fence full of bouganvillia flowering near a beach.  It was the only bright splash of color against the dry brown area.

We drove down a dry arroyo out to a beach.  A herd of goats wandered along the road, too.

The steep sand cliff-shore at the end of the arroyo.  We don`t know if the black is from rock or beach fire ashes.

Jason and I walked to the end of the beach where it wasn`t so steep and went around the rocky point.

Sea lions barked from the offshore rocks at this point.  Such pretty water!

The rocks are granite; hard but worn smooth by the waves and scouring sand.  Cool formations are left.

Karen leaving her mark until the next tide washes it away.

Jason perching on the granite formation.

Heading back to our van.  You can barely see where the vehicles are parked.

A great perch to watch the sunset.

Pink aloe vera in the wash along the road.  It has taken on the color of the dirt and rock here.

The waves came over the cliff of sand and washed away the footprints and tire tracks, but left these scribbles in the sand instead.

Waves breaking over the rocks at high tide. The white stuff on the far left rock is bird and/or sea lion poop.

The water at the far end of the beach didn`t soak into the sand as expected very quickly.  There must be rock below the sand and I could see percolating holes that left ripples in the water surface as the water bubbled down into some underground hole

Whale spouts and jumping Mobula ray splashes just offshore.

Another sun going down with nobody else around.

One of those goats came by to check the area out for possible food.  She started away when she finally saw me.

One hot day in Cabo San Lucas.  

We stopped at the little monument for the Tropic of Cancer as we drove past.  

The sculpture above the plaque from above.

This huge globe was behind the building.

A old-time sailing ship made of salt.  Different.  They also had a dolphin and a couple other things made from salt crystals.  The price of $1480 Mexican pesos is only about $75 USD.

YOLO at the Tropic of Cancer.  We blend in well with the surroundings here and now call our color "Baja brown".

We left a sticker on the Tropic of Cancer sign, too.

We`d heard of a beach where there were dead puffer fish washing ashore and the next one we stayed at had them.  Dozens of them line the high tide mark and nobody we talked to knew why only these fish were washing ashore.

Jason cut my hair for me and I have a new goat tail that will be cooler and easier to wash with limited water.

Miramar Beach, where we found the puffer fish also had lots of palapas, trash cans, beach showers and porta potties.  A man raked the entire palapa area by hand each day to make it look neat.

Pretty sky at Miramar beach.

We drove through San Antonio, an old mission town, but only stopped for the overlook.

The old architecture draws some folks, but we did not stop.

We got back to Pichilingue to catch the ferry across from La Paz to Topolobampo on the mainland.  Topo is about five hours north of Mazatlan.  TMC ferry is cheaper for us as it is a cargo ferry, not a passenger ferry and we could stay with our vehicle rather than having to purchase a cabin for the crossing.  We were on the wailist for a 12-30-22 crossing and they had space.  Prices went up the day after Christmas so we had to pay more than quoted, but it was till cheaper than Baja Ferries.  This is our ship, Santa Marcella.

Once inside the port fences, we had hours to kill before boarding began so we washed the van next to the weighing platform.  I was surprised they said yes when Jason asked if we could use their spigot to wash our van.  It certainly needed it and we were happy to have a clean van to start the mainland part of our Mexico adventure.

A clean, shiny YOLO van again!  Yippee.

It was dark before we got loaded onto the ferry.  We watched the port mules/trucks load the trailers for hours.  They do an amazing job of moving those loads onto the ship, usually having to back them onto the ferry.  We got to drive forward and turn around to get into our position below.  Upper deck, in the center is the primo location for us to sleep in peace.  It was a smooth crossing.

This semi seemed to have some trouble and was all cracked up. No headlight left,either.

As we came into Topolobampo, we could smell the grain in this hazy air.

The town was a riot of color, a real surprise for me.  It reminds me of the Caribbean, with all the  bright colored homes.

The tug boat pushed us into place against the wharf.

Down the ramp we go to get off the ferry.....

And looking back you can see into the cavernous ship.

We drove to the nearest town, Los Mochis and decided to visit the Botanical Gardens there.  This is the front gate into them

Jason behind a Mayan dancer cutout.

Karen behind a Mayan woman cutout.

Some verrrrry tall palms in the gardens.

A nice garden of palms in the middle of this city.

Santa`s sleigh is a golf cart here.

A bright red bouganvillia bush makes the Christmas colors pop.

Karen in a gian ornament on the lawn.

Jason in the big letters.

Karen hiding in the golden H of the letters.

Really?? A GREEN Coke machine??  Perhaps because it is in a botanical garden?

A pile of old bricks along one of the walkways in the gardens.

This ugly duck decided not to get out of the way and nipped my jeans as he walked by.

Hundreds of turtles lined the edge of the muddy pond.

They all had their necks stretched out to the max.

This brave one didn`t plop into the water as we passed.

An impressive row of palms flanks Jason.

A Christmas choo choo across the street had spools of wire hooked to lights that we presume turn on at dark.

One of the reasons you do not drive at night in Mexico--cows wandering along the road.  We saw a few dead ones in our travels.

An old sugar mill perhaps or a corn mill from the wording on the side.

This costumed lad was hawking paper Chinese lanterns at the street light in Las Glorias.  

The big letters of Las Glorias out at the beach.  

You can see how few people are here.  Jason is on the right, but the lot is empty on New Years Eve Day.

The beach is littered with pretty shells.

A nice collection of the beach`s offerings.  The spikes on the clam shells are pretty fragile and I was surprised they survived the tumble to get onto the beach at all.

The last sunset of 2022 at Las Glorias.  Lots of people came to watch.

And there she goes.....!!!!  Adios to 2022.

So there you have the end of 2022 in YOLO`s travels in Mexico.  Happy 2023 to all of you.